1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing apparatuses, and more particularly, to a technical field for increasing the usability of an information processing apparatus in which a display unit having a display is pivotally supported on a main unit having a keyboard by a hinge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information processing apparatus are known in which a display unit having a display is supported on a main unit having a keyboard with cursor keys, character entry keys, and so on by a hinge so that it can pivot to open and close the keyboard. Such information processing apparatuses include, for example, personal computers and PDAs (personal digital assistants). Some of the information processing apparatuses are provided with a pointing device that serves to move a pointer appearing on the display in a required direction.
Pointing devices include a stick-shaped device in which a force in a required direction is applied to a rodlike projection with the finger to move the pointer, a pad-shaped device, called a control pad, in which a surface thereof is traced with the finger to move the pointer in a required direction, a left button for carrying out a menu item chosen by the pointer, and a right button for displaying a submenu (popup menu) at the pointer. In general, these pointing devices are frequently used because they can serve various functions by simple operation.
In such information processing apparatuses, the display screen displayed on the display is scrolled by first selecting a scroll bar displayed at one end of the display, for example, at the right end or the lower end, with a pointer through the operation of a pointing device or the like, and then moving the pointer on the scroll bar in the vertical direction (up-down direction) or in the horizontal direction (right-left direction).
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-255978 discloses an information processing apparatus in which the display screen can be scrolled in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with a single common scroll bar.
With recent popularization of information processing apparatuses, information processing apparatuses have been developed which are used on the desk, and which are also used as highly portable apparatuses that can be easily operated while being gripped in the hands.
However, the known information processing apparatuses often cannot be easily operated as portable apparatuses because the pointing device is disposed at the front side of the main unit. When an information processing apparatus is used as a portable apparatus, it is desirable that the user grips both right and left sides of the main unit on the side of the hinge adjacent to the center of gravity of the apparatus, in order to maintain a stable gripping state. However, when operating the pointing device, the user must grip the portion of the main unit close to the center of gravity with only one hand, and the gripping state becomes unstable. Moreover, the hand must be moved, and operability is low. Since the pointing device is frequently used, as described above, the above problems are particularly significant when the information processing apparatus is used as a portable apparatus.
The pointing devices also include a center button that allows the above-described scrolling operation. Since the center button is frequently used in succession to the left button and the right button, if it is disposed apart from the left button and the right button, the user must move the hand to successively use the buttons, and operability is reduced.